While it opens up its economy and moves away from being a nation that is almost entirely dependent on oil, Saudi Arabia's Prince Mohammed is aiming to establish a thriving tech ecosystem in the country with a slew of deals, including partnerships with Google and Raytheon.

Out of the 75 members on the world's Most Powerful People list 17 are newcomers. Among them there are presidents, billionaires, heads of organizations, CEOs, and one Special Counsel. One commonality: their words and actions impact large number of people, businesses-- even entire economies.

A leveling rig count, strong demand, falling inventories and talk of a major extension of the OPEC/Russia export limitation deal have combined to create a remarkably strong and — dare we say it — stable current situation for the U.S. oil and gas industry.

Despite the conflicting signals from Moscow and Riyadh, the range of likely outcomes from the Doha meeting has not fundamentally narrowed. A comprehensive deal that includes Iran is not to be expected. It is also unlikely that the meeting in Doha will end with a complete breakdown in talks. However, a substantive 'agreement in principle' that commits the participants to continued negotiations could provide the market with a roadmap and potentially create the time and space to eventually bring Iran to the table.

Moscow has invested perceptible political capital in the oil freeze talks, positioning itself as an intermediary between Tehran and Riyadh—political rivals within OPEC and geopolitical rivals across the Middle East. Failure to close a deal could have a chilling effect on future Russia-OPEC cooperation and weaken regional perceptions of Russian influence. More importantly, from Moscow’s perspective, the inability to deliver as an intermediary between Tehran and Riyadh would be a setback in the Kremlin’s aspirations to become a regional mediator and dealmaker as Putin seeks to take advantage of a perceived decline in U.S. regional leadership and commitment.